Col Thomas a Hillary

Sas: a Soldiers Perspective Col Thomas a Hillary

Publisher Marketing: This book provides an in sight into my lifetime experiences from birth to the present day. It also concentrates thoroughly on defining the qualities desired of an SAS military leader. In terms of personal experiences of leadership I would say that the military provided me with a blueprint of acceptable leadership behaviours. Looking at the training I went through with Special Forces reveals some of the unique qualities that are required to fulfil this role. I would say that conventional military regiments differed somewhat to the democratic, even abdicratic approach of Special Forces units such as the SBS, SAS and 2REP French Foreign Legion. While I was serving with the Marines I wanted to transfer to a Special Forces unit but was refused entry to the organisation because of my commitment to the Marines. This was a great issue at the time but I eventually rejoined the SAS regiment anyway after resigning from the Marines. My first period of SAS training followed passing of the usual Battle Fitness Test (BFT) that was completed while at a barracks off the King's Road in Chelsea. I can explain that my first thoughts about joining the SAS occurred in 1976 when I was serving as a junior guardsman at Pirbright in Surrey. The inspiration came from my platoon commander who had previously been a member of the Guards Independent Parachute Brigade. This was a unit that largely preceded G Squadron of the SAS Regiment. Later actions then included the Iranian embassy incident under direction of the Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) team and patrols in areas of Northern Ireland that were subject to violent terrorist actions. I served also with 23 and 21 between 1985 and 1992 and the Scots Guards and French Foreign Legion experiences came early in my career.